Moonbeams and Starlight
by night-fury-baby
Summary: After a memory flash, Jewel wants to know what happened to her mother. When she learns about how her mother died, she is horrified and remembers the happy times. But Jewel is slowly becoming ill, and is too depressed to notice. Can Blu, Eduardo, and their three children save her before it's too late?


Jewel sang the lullaby to her kids softly, trying to get them to sleep. Bia and Carla were already sound asleep, but Tiago refused to go to bed until the song was over. When Jewel finished the song, Tiago popped up.

"Sing it again, please?"

Jewel smiled at her only son, and kissed his forehead.

"Tommorow."

Tiago flopped back, falling asleep quickly. Jewel flew down from her kid's nest, and met Blu at their nest, where he was sound asleep. Jewel kissed his cheek, and snuggled into her bed, smiling.

"_Come on, Mom! Hurry up!"_

_The speaker was a small chick with extremely light feathers and wings, beautiful aqua eyes, and a long tail feather. She zipped through the sky laughing, smiling beak to beak as she looked behind her._

_"I'm going to get you!"_

_The bird behind her was light blue, like her, but with a mix of dark feathers on her wings and tail feathers. Her eyes were dark sapphire, and she was known as "The Queen of the Amazon" as she was the chief's wife, and the most beautiful bird in the tribe._

_The chick squawked with fake terror, flying faster. She zoomed throughout the trees, glancing behind her once or twice. Her mother was catching up quick, and she couldn't go faster._

_Suddenly her mother stopped, hovering. "Jewel, look out!"_

_Jewel barely had time to blink as she found herself in a cage. The cage door closed and locked, and an alarm sounded through the jungle. Jewel looked up to her mother, whose sapphire eyes were slit with terror._

_"Jewel, stay there! Mother's going to get Daddy!"_

_Jewel squawked at her to hurry, and she looked around for a way to escape. The door was locked, and she couldn't break wire with her beak, so she just wrapped her wings around herself, sniffed back tears once or twice, sat down on the cage floor, and began to sob into her wings._

_..._

_Jewel's mother flew as fast as she could to her mate and tribe. She was crying as she flew. "What if she gets taken away from us? What I never see her again?!"_

_She got to her mate as quick as possible. As soon as she flew in, Eduardo looked at her lovingly, until he saw the tears and terror on her face. Then he noticed that a certain bundle of feathers was not with her._

_"Where's Jewel?"_

_The macaw simply replied, "She got caught in a human trap."_

_A rescue party happened immediately. Eduardo, his mate, and three other birds set up to go help Jewel._

_Eduardo flew next to his mate. "What happened?" He asked softly._

_"It's all my fault, I was chasing her, and she just flew into a human cage."_

_"Nira, this is not your fault." Eduardo sweetly said, nuzzling his head on her._

_"Lets just get our baby back."_

_..._

_Jewel looked up from her wings, hoping to see her parents. She looked out in the distance, seeing a speck of blue. When she looked closer, it was her family! Jewel squawked. _

_"Mom! Daddy! I'm over here!"_

_She watched as the flock of five birds became more visible. She felt like crying tears of joy as they headed her way..._

_Eduardo reached her first, using his talon to pick the lock. It took a bit, but he finally got it open. Jewel flew into his wings, crying happy tears._

_"Daddy!"_

_"Jewel..."_

_The father and daughter hugged, and then Jewel flew over to her mother. Nira gave her daughter a hug, and then smiled down at her. _

_"Jewel, baby, I am SO sorry that I wasn't there to protect you."_

_Jewel shook her head and hugged her mother again."_

Jewel awoke with heavy breathing, the dream feeling so real. She must have been crying quite loudly, because Blu wrapped his wings around her, and she kept sobbing. Blu looked to her, trying to comfort her.

"Jewel, honey, what's wrong?"

"I...I had a flashback...of my...mother!" She sobbed even more, not intending to stop soon.

Blu held her close. "I'm so sorry, Jewel."

"I...I never knew...what HAPPENED to her!"

At this point, Bia and Tiago, the light sleepers, woke up Carla and they flew down from their room, landing next to their mom.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Carla gently asked her mom before giving her a hug.

"I'm...alright...just a...memory."

"A memory of Grandma?" Bia asked, her hazel eyes looking brown in the dark.

Jewel just nodded.

"What did she look like, Mom?" Tiago gently asked.

Jewel wiped her tears away. "Well, she had light blue feathers like mine on her front side and face, but her wings and tail feathers were like your feathers, Carla. Her eyes were a deep sapphire, and everyone said that her eyes were simply magical. She nicknamed, "The Queen of the Amazon".

Her head feathers were like yours, Bia. Flat against her head. It was a wonderful style. She often put a flower in her head feathers.

Her structure was like mine, skinny and pretty. Her eyelashes were so long...Her smile so beautiful...Her heart made of gold..."

Carla looked at her feathers, barely believing that she was blessed with her grandmother's feathers. On her left, Bia felt a wing go up to her head feathers, wondering how her grandmother's head feathers were styled with flowers and pollen.

"What was her name?" Blu asked softly.

"Nira. Her name was Nira."

Jewel sniffed again, and watched outside the tree as the sun began to rise. Just as everyday, Eduardo flew in to say good morning, noticing the tears on Jewel's face.

"Jewel?"

"Daddy? What happened to my mother?"

Eduardo's eyes filled with sadness. "Alright, everyone. I'll tell you. Just...it may take a while."


End file.
